FILE PHOTO: Mozambique President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi speaks to reporters ahead of a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during the US-Africa Leaders Summit at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC, U.S., December 14, 2022. Mandel Ngan/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

MAPUTO, May 6 (Reuters) – Mozambique’s ruling FRELIMO party has announced Daniel Chapo will be its presidential candidate in an election scheduled for October.

FRELIMO has governed the southern African country since gaining independence in 1975 and hopes Chapo will lead the party to another victory in the Oct. 9 election.

“The soap opera of speculation is over, including speculation about the third term,” President Filipe Nyusi said on state television on Sunday, dismissing the prospect of contesting elections again.

“We must all unite around comrade Daniel Francisco Chapo, in the demanding march towards electoral victory next October,” Nyusi said.

Mozambique’s constitution limits the president to two five-year terms. However, there had been media speculation that Nyusi would seek a third term after his re-election as party leader in 2022.

A relatively unknown figure in national politics, Chapo is the governor of the southern Mozambican province of Inhambane. He won 225 votes (around 94%) cast by the party’s central committee, according to a party statement.

“We are going to work with all social strata,” Chapo said on television after his win.

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A former radio announcer, Chapo was born in 1977, making him the first FRELIMO candidate born after the country’s independence.

He holds a law degree and a Master’s degree in development management and has filled a string of political roles including as an administrator of the districts of Nacala and Palma.

(Reporting by Manuel Mucari Writing by Tannur Anders Editing by Bhargav Acharya and Sharon Singleton)